Suspect arrested 17 months after brutal Union County slaying

UNION COUNTY — A 26-year-old New Jersey man has been arrested and charged with a brutal murder that has baffled Union County investigators for the past two years — the killing of Diane Zaleski.

Arnell Yearwood was arrested over the weekend in the Vauxhall section of Union Township and charged with murder in connection with the November 2010 slaying of Zaleski, a 54-year-old woman who kept to herself and never opened her door for strangers, Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said.

Investigators always believed Zaleski knew her killer, and the homicide probe revealed her attacker was injured during a struggle and left DNA at the scene. Police ruled out more than 80 suspects during a year-long investigation, but were no closer to finding a suspect when they opened their case files to The Star-Ledger on the anniversary of the slaying last November.

But Yearwood made himself a suspect when he began talking to a Massachusetts woman on Facebook earlier this year. The 26-year-old apparently made some incriminating statements to the woman, who contacted the prosecutor's office a short time later, Romankow said.

Yearwood was arrested Saturday afternoon in Union Township, where police found him performing repairs on someone's home. He remains at the Union County Jail in lieu of $1 million.

Union County Prosecutor's OfficeDiane Zaleski, left, was killed in November 2010 in Union Township. Police have arrested a suspect, Arnell Yearwood, right.

Family of murder victim Diane Zaleski find justice Family of murder victim Diane Zaleski speak at a press conference with
Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow who announced a break in the case. Zalesk's family including niece Marisa Iannarone, who made a brief statement, joined Romankow and law enforcement to announced the arrest of Arnell Yearwood, who has been charged in the murder. (Video by Jennifer Brown /The Star-Ledger)

At one point, Yearwood lived across the street from Zaleski at his mother's house, Romankow said, but its unclear if he was living there at the time of the killing. Detectives interviewed relatives at that home "several times," but Romankow said family members never mentioned that Yearwood had been staying there.

“If we knew that … we might have been able to catch him sooner," the prosecutor said.

Zaleski's killing was as bizarre as it was chilling. With the help of an F.B.I. profiler last year, detectives determined Zaleski likely knew her attacker, and that their potential suspect was not a serial killer. They believed the assailant didn't plan on killing Zaleski at first. Detectives said the woman suffered "wounds upon wounds" during the attack, and said her injuries were so severe that they were unable to determine how she died, or what type of weapon the killer would have used.

Yearwood remained silent as he was led into a black sedan this afternoon by police officers. The man stands around 5 foot 6 inches with a beard and dark black hair. He appeared solemn, with his eyes downcast, as he was taken away from a throng of reporters and cameramen outside the Union County Prosecutor's Office.